It sounds like a great gig – listening to the radio
and hanging out in sports bars, all in the name of academia – and David
Nylund admits it was. But the social work professor says what he learned from
the likes of sports talk radio personality Jim Rome and his listeners reveals
volumes about American men, turning some of his preconceptions upside-down.

Rather than being an anonymous outlet where homophobic or racist remarks are
tolerated, Nylund found talk radio was more of a society. “It’s
a community where men can discuss issues that relate to gender and sexuality
in meaningful ways,” he says.

Nylund’s findings appeared in the May issue of the Journal of Sport
and Social Issues and will be submitted as a book proposal. His project
was funded by GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

At times, Nylund says, sports radio even functions as a support group, such
as in the spring when the Sacramento Kings again failed in the playoffs. “Sports
talk radio served as ‘therapy’ for grieving Kings fans. All day
long on both national and local shows, callers from Sacramento, men and women,
called to express their pain and frustration.”

For the bulk of his study, Nylund used “The Jim Rome Show” because
it’s the most popular sports radio talk show in the country. “Rome
is known for his strong approach, opinions and speech. He became widely known
for an incident where he ‘feminized’ NFL quarterback Jim Everett
by calling him ‘Chrissie,” Nylund says, a reference to female tennis
player Chris Evert that was Rome’s way of criticizing him for not “being
a man” and staying in the pocket.

But in studying transcripts of several months of Rome’s show, Nylund says,
“I found him to be rather progressive on some issues. He won’t tolerate
racism. He supports gay male athletes and had them as guests on the show.”
Nylund says Rome’s seemingly contradictory traits are a metaphor for a
contemporary man in his 30s—metrosexual, post-civil rights male intersecting
with the hedonistic, “Coors Light ad” male. And he has more potential
to influence then a scholar or professor.

Nyland notes that in many ways topics with sports ties—the Kobe Bryant
case, women at Augusta National Country Club—bring up greater issues such
as race and gender. There are even parallels to the global economy. High-priced
players and greedy owners are viewed like CEOs, Nylund says. Teams uprooting
and moving to other cities are like outsourcing. “It’s the only
area in mainstream media where you see criticism of current economic trends.

“Men historically have had spaces where they can bond and connect, particularly
when they are feeling upset. That space is dissipating in current culture, as
men move to the suburbs,” he says. “Their solace is in sports talk
radio. It’s a mediated version of the old spaces.”

In addition to listening to the Rome program, Nylund met with other listeners
in sports bars throughout the area and all over the country. “Sports bars
are an extension of sports talk. They bond with other men through imagined community,”
he says.

Nylund also sees a place for sports talk in his practice. Though he ran into
resistance from traditionalists who felt this sort of a topic wasn’t worthy
of study, he says, “Popular culture shapes opinion in people’s lives
and sports radio fits in with that. Our clients hear about gender through talk
radio.” Nylund’s next book will be on how to use pop culture in
therapy.